Swing which way?
by LilaStar
Summary: R/S slash, Sirius figures out a few thing and a mass amount of confusion follows. Very fluffy. Rating changed due to language.
1. Truth or Truth?

AN- Slash. Very. No OoP spoilers, just, slash goodlyness. More forthcoming, on the spur of the moment story. =)  
  
Disclaimer- not mine.  
  
~*~  
  
Sirius sighed. Why did life have to be so confusing? Up until just a few days ago he had been a normal, teenage boy, who was drooling over every girl in school, then suddenly, they all seemed dull and the moon instead of the stars shined brightest. How did it happen? He had no idea, it just DID. He'd been minding his own business when his imbalanced sexuality decided to rear its head and tell him exactly what it thought. It all started, of all places in a game of truth or dare.  
  
~*~  
  
Sirius and James had been forced into detention after turning Snape's hair red for about the thirtieth time in the past month. Thankfully they were just cleaning the trophy room, not too bad, especially since they weren't really being supervised. Filch was too busy chasing after peeves to much care what they were up to, so long as the trophies got cleaned.  
  
"Say, Sirius, you bored?" James had asked suddenly.  
  
"Who wouldn't be? I'm about sick of this 'Tom Riddle' fellow and I haven't a bloody clue who he is!" Sirius had replied looking up from the trophy he was cleaning and laughing. "What've you got cooked up this time?"  
  
"How about a little game of Truth or Truth?" James had asked- a crazy glint in his eye.  
  
"I always thought it was called 'Truth or Dare'…"  
  
James laughed and stated, "But we can't really pull off any good dares here, so why not ask really crazy…zany questions that we don't really want to answer?"  
  
Sirius had raised an eyebrow, but had agreed to the terms.  
  
"You first James. Truthfully…who would you absolutely LOVE to go out with, but would never have the balls to ask?" Sirius had asked with a malicious glint to his eye. He'd been trying to get it out of James for months who he was constantly pining over…  
  
"Err…" James flushed before muttering "lilyevans." He said it almost as one word and very quietly, but Sirius caught it all the same and had to stifle a bark of laughter.  
  
"You've GOT to be kidding!" he had laughed.  
  
James just glared at him. "Ok, your turn smart ass. What girl would you secretly love to snog senseless?"  
  
Sirius had sat back and thought, but a single girl that truly appealed to him refused to cross his mind. He blinked and looked up at James. "None of them." He stated with a shrug.  
  
James tilted his head in confusion. "Really? You do know that one of the rules is to be completely honest, right?"  
  
Sirius nodded. "Yeah, that's why I had to think about it….and I can't think of a single girl I'd enjoy snogging. I didn't expect that…" Sirius scratched his head and wiped the last of the soap off of Riddle's trophy before moving on to the next one. "Let's see…What's the most embarrassing name your mum ever called you?"  
  
"Oh good lord Sirius, why would you want to know THAT?" James asked, throwing his hands in the air.  
  
Sirius shrugged, "Because I'm weird. So what was it?"  
  
"Err…'Shnookums'…Yeah, I think that was the worst of them." James stated. "You're very strange at times." James just shook his head, cleaned for a few more minutes and then looked back at Sirius. "Ah- I've got it. But you have to promise to answer thoroughly and honestly." James said, pointing his finger at Sirius.  
  
"Alright…" Sirius quirked an eyebrow and waited for the question.  
  
"Which do you like better? Girls or Guys?" James asked, leaning on one of the pedestals in the room.  
  
"Whoa…good question…" Sirius said, "I think both are pretty good. Does it matter if someone is a girl or a guy? I can't really say I'd noticed that much…"  
  
James looked at Sirius startled. "Can I ask a clarifying question then?"  
  
"Go for it."  
  
"Which way DO you swing?"  
  
"Whoa! Where'd THAT come from?!?" Sirius said, stepping back.  
  
"Your last two answers of course."  
  
"Really?!? I've never even THOUGHT about that James…Oh good lord. Now I'm confused!" Sirius said, slightly panicked. Everything had been wonderfully simple until just now, but when James had said that…  
  
"So which way is it?" James persisted. He sure was persistent..  
  
"BOTH!" Sirius almost yelled, his hands over his head in a vain attempt to control his thoughts, but it wasn't working. Images of Remus kept floating through his head, eating breakfast, listening to music, reading by the fire, taking notes, laughing, scolding him, rolling his eyes, working on his homework, brewing a potion with his tongue stuffed between his teeth. The images blurred together so fast that everything for Sirius was just a blur of Remus. It was all Remus. Nothing but Remus. "Or, no…" He said slowly, looking up. It had just hit him. "I don't fancy any girls, but I think I could. I don't fancy many boys, but I do fancy one." He stated slowly. "So in a way, it's both, but in a way, I think I've just now realized I'm…in love."  
  
James looked rather startled by Sirius's outburst followed by his confession. Yet, for once in his life, James Potter decided not to pry.  
  
~*~ 


	2. Problems and Confessions

AN- Ok! And it continues! Maybe this is a story I can keep going...review PLEASE!!! I heart reviews. This is also the first story I've written from Sirius's POV...which is odd because I'm rather alot like the way I portray him. rofl. Yeah well...R&R!  
  
Disclaimer- not mine. Rowling's property. I only wish...  
  
Sirius sighed. So that was how all this confusion began. He knew James was watching him, he felt his eyes in the back of his head. But now, Sirius didn't rightly care. All he really thought about was Remus. How utterly stupid it was of him to fall in love with his best friend, who would never in a million years like him, because he, of course, was NORMAL, and did NOT 'swing that way'. Sirius sighed and stood up from the lunch table with a quick explanation of "I'm going to the library" and walked out. Being there was just driving him crazier.  
  
~*~  
  
"James, what's the matter with him?" Remus asked after Sirius left. "He's not acting himself."  
  
James just sighed. "I don't rightly know. He fancies someone, but I don't know who, I think that's what's got him depressed."  
  
Remus raised an eyebrow. "You mean, the great, nosy, James Potter, didn't pry into Sirius's business?" He asked in shock.  
  
"Oh come on! I'm not that bad." James had said, but he grinned, he knew he was 'that bad'. "But anyways, I'd pried enough already finding out he even fancied someone, I actually, got him to REALIZE he fancied someone…not intentionally, but I did."  
  
"How did you manage THAT?" Remus asked, curious, almost daring to hope.  
  
"I asked him which way he swings in a game of truth or truth." James stated slowly. "He go confused and couldn't figure it out, eventually deciding on both." James smirked. "Moony, I think our dear friend Sirius is a pouf."  
  
"Really now?" Remus raised an eyebrow once again and smiled. Indeed, if Sirius could swing that way, Remus had a chance. "But that hardly explains why he's in the library."  
  
James laughed, "Well, as to that, I haven't the foggiest."  
  
~*~  
  
"Where is it?" Sirius muttered as he shifted through to books on the back right hand shelf of the library. It was labeled 'Magical Beasts', which of course meant it contained a large selection of books on werewolves. Just what he needed. One book in particular.  
  
"Aha! He breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out a book entitled 'The Man Behind the Wolf- A book about Werewolves for those who love them." He sat down at the nearest table and began to read.  
  
~*~  
  
During Defense Against the Dark Arts that day, Sirius had a major problem in finding a way to deal with his newfound emotions for Remus. He sighed as he sat down, trying to find a way to keep his affections unnoticed. Remus would never like him. Remus was perfectly straight as far as Sirius could tell, and there was no use in destroying their friendship on a very small chance. Consequently, Sirius was at odds with himself.  
  
The easiest thing for him to do would to be avoiding Remus, but that could be worse than being to close, which he was in serious danger of. Having realized his dilemma, Sirius now wanted to spend every waking second in Remus's presence, but that was sure to be noticed. A definite. So the only thing for it was to act 'normal'. But what was normal? When it had BEEN normal, normal had been so simple. Yet now…what was too close? What was too far? Where is the happy medium? All these problems now had to be faced by a fifteen-year-old Sirius Black. Not a very good one for thinking about THAT many things at once, in addition to schoolwork. And Hogwarts had now given him the largest obstacle he had yet faced in his life. Constant contact with the boy he secretly desired.  
  
Sirius was the first to arrive in class; he sat down in his usual seat and waited for his friends to arrive from lunch. They soon did, of course. Remus sat down right next to him.  
  
'Oh the torment.' He thought to himself, halfway wishing James had sat there instead.  
  
"Hey Moony!" He said cheerfully. 'Must act normal…must act normal…' he thought.  
  
"Hello Sirius." Remus smiled as he sat his bag down. "Missed you at lunch today." HE continued to smile as he pulled out his book and a quill.  
  
'My GOD is he cute.' Sirius tried to suppress the thought, but that just usually doesn't work, especially when he was sitting this close to him. "Well, I wanted to err…look up an ingredient for potions next period, I wasn't quite certain…" Sirius stumbled.  
  
"You could have just asked." Remus replied with a grin. "And since when are you worried about potions?"  
  
"Well, I err, wanted to do it myself…for once. And since I didn't want detention tonight with…you know." Sirius blushed a bit, but hoped it went unnoticed. Unfortunately, James DID notice, and grinned broadly.  
  
Remus grinned. "Thanks."  
  
James smiled as he noticed a slight blush on Remus's cheeks as well. 'This could get interesting…' he mused as class began.  
  
~*~  
  
"See ya soon Moony!" Sirius called as Remus left the dorm on his way to the shack. Sirius smiled slightly and flopped back on his bed.  
  
"Sirius, can I talk to you for a minute?" James asked, moving to sit next to him.  
  
"Sure Prongs, what about?" Sirius was completely relaxed, resting against his elbow on the pillow behind him.  
  
"It's Remus isn't it?"  
  
Suddenly Sirius was anything but relaxed. "How…how'd you figure that out?" he stuttered, completely taken aback. "I mean, I expected you to sooner or later, but dangit Prongs! Not THAT fast! I'm still getting used to the whole idea!" Sirius said heatedly, wringing his hands.  
  
James laughed. "Relax Padfoot, I've no problems with it, and I doubt he will either. That is of course, if you decide to tell him."  
  
"Not yet." Sirius replied, his head no hidden beneath his pillow.  
  
"Whenever you're ready then." James said standing up and walking towards the bathroom. "We need to get going soon."  
  
"A'ight." Sirius replied, still under the pillow. He finally came out when James had exited the room. "And I'm supposed to be a Gryffindor." He muttered under his breath, standing up and heading down to the Commons to meet the others before they made their way to the shack for another night of marauding. 


	3. Another detention

AN- Yes, Remus is cheerful, I felt like making him cheerful. And several of the things described ACTUALLY HAPPENED. Bwhaha. This fish thing for instance whent on a for a few weeks. *grins* yeah, I definitly base Siri on me. Remus varies. =) On with it!  
  
Disclaimer- not mine, with they were...  
  
PS- REVIEW!!!! PLEASE!!  
  
_______  
  
As the days progressed, things definitely didn't get any easier for Sirius, if anything, they got ten times harder. Every time he so much as glanced at Remus he noticed something else he loved about him. He was like…an angel. Though Sirius knew he'd never admit it, never even believe it. Things were also harder in that James was still telling him he should talk to Remus, that Remus would probably understand, that they were 'perfect', and even so far as to say he was a 'good catch'. Lord knows where he got THAT from, but he was not a constant source of embarrassing, mimicking the muggle way of 'reeling in a big fish'. Life for Sirius Black was never easy when James OR Remus were around. No peace for THIS Dog Star. Except tonight.  
  
~*~  
  
"Hmm," James said as he was once again, polishing trophies. "This is familiar. How many times have we polished these now Remus?"  
  
Remus smirked and looked up from the little plaque he had just finished. "This being our sixth year, 237. You'd think they'd give us something different."  
  
"Well, they do, we just run them through the cycle pretty regularly." Between the four of them, they were almost constantly in detention, and consequently had done almost every punishment the professors could think of to date. "Rock paper scissors for who has to clean Riddle's." James said, also having finished the trophy he had been working on. Riddle's plate was by far the largest and the biggest pain to clean. No one ever wanted to clean it, so this tradition was established to make the decision among which ever marauders were being punished that evening. They'd become rather good at it too.  
  
"Paper beats Rock, it's all yours Prongs." Remus said grinning and picking up a MUCH smaller trophy that sat beside Riddle's.  
  
James grimaced and began working. "So, what shall we do to pass the time?" He asked innocently. "Perhaps a little game of truth or truth?" He said, grinning.  
  
"I thought it was called 'Truth or Dare'." Remus stated.  
  
"You know that is EXACTLY was Sirius said when I offered the game to him last week when we were in here. So what is that? Yes or no?"  
  
"Sure, why not." Remus said, laughing. "You go first."  
  
"Alright. James grinned while imagining himself with little wings and a halo, playing the part of cupid. "Which way do you swing?"  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"Which way do you swing?" James repeated, grinning like a maniac. "Boys or girls?"  
  
"Oh, that. Well, if you want to be technical, in order to 'swing' you go back AND forth, or else it just isn't very fun."  
  
James rolled his eyes. "You know that's not what I meant."  
  
"Of course not." Remus grinned, "But it wouldn't be any fun to answer you straight out."  
  
"Well, please, bypass some of this fun and spill it."  
  
Remus laughed again. He was a lot easier going than he had been in the past. "I, not falling under my previous answer, swing to boy."  
  
"Singular, eh?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Singular, yes, as in one boy, as in, I fancy one and only one person. This does not classify me as much of anything- except in love."  
  
"And who is this lucky fellow to have a fine young man like yourself 'Mooning' over him?" James asked in an almost serious tone, minus of course the moon joke.  
  
"I believe you already know the answer, and I believe it's my turn." Remus stated simply. James pouted and continued polishing. "How long have you liked Lily?"  
  
James blushed. "Middle of last year. My turn." Remus nodded. "Is it Sirius?"  
  
"Bravo m'friend. Hope you don't mind" he said laughing. He'd been expecting this conversation since the day James had told him Sirius was a pouf.  
  
"Yeah, well, pretty obvious Moony. And of course I don't mind, you knew that. I just wanted to confirm it." James rolled his eyes. "How long?"  
  
"My turn." Remus said, smiling smugly.  
  
"Oh you lunar pain in the arse!" James muttered, finally setting down Riddle's award and moving onto the next trophy.  
  
"Would it be worth my while to pursue him?"  
  
"OH yeah." James replied vehemently. "NOW my turn. How long?"  
  
"Fourth year."  
  
"Ooo, you secretive little…." James muttered before bursting out laughing. "Damn Moony, I don't know how you do it. I really don't."  
  
Remus just shrugged and continued cleaning.  
  
~*~  
  
'He has a cute nose…' Sirius mused, looking up from his potions homework to stare at Remus's 'cute nose'. He didn't realize how long he'd been sitting there until Remus interrupted his daydream.  
  
"What are you staring at there Padfoot?" He asked, his eyes dancing with mirth.  
  
"Your nose." Sirius said, still off in lala land. "I like it."  
  
"Really? Remus said, raising an eyebrow. Now that you've made this observation would you like to return to the land of the living and go to dinner?"  
  
Sirius quickly shook himself and realized what he'd just said. Consequently, he turned bright red. Remus simply grinned and stood up.  
  
"I'll be right back; I need to check out this book from Madam Pince real quick." He stated, walking away.  
  
As soon as he left, Sirius gave his head a few good bangs on the table, muttering 'stupid, stupid, stupid,' before getting up and packing up his and Remus's bags.  
  
Just as he was finishing, Remus returned, the book tucked under his arm.  
  
"You didn't have to do that." He said, referring to the neatly packed bag.  
  
"Doesn't bother me in the least." Sirius said with a grin. "I guess I just get on a roll."  
  
Remus laughed and placed the new book in his bag. "Maybe one day I'll 'get on a roll' and repay you." He smiled. 'James was right, definitely worth my while.' "Come on Siri, dinner time!" He grinned and dashed to the door of the library, stopping when he got there to wait on Sirius.  
  
"Geeze Moony, do you have to move so FAST?" Sirius laughed.  
  
"Sure do, I'm hungry. And what's so special about my nose?" Remus asked.  
  
"Damn." Sirius hissed and turned bright red. "It's cute." He muttered before quickly dashing off towards the Great Hall for dinner. Remus followed behind, beaming.  
  
_________  
  
Review? Pretty please with sugar, whipped cream, and a cherry on top? *begs*  
  
Major thankyous to those of you that have. I heart yall. 


	4. Truth or DARE

AN- Okay, chapter 4. Seems I'm doing a chapter a day now. Enjoy, and PLEASE review! I live for reviews! They make me write faster, I swear!  
  
Disclaimer- not mine, I no make money, I just drool.  
  
"Stupid stupid stupid…" Sirius muttered as he raced into the great hall.  
  
"What's the matter Padfoot?" James asked, popping up practically out of nowhere. "You look….not very happy."  
  
"How eloquent Prongs." Sirius said, flopping down in his seat. "I just told Remus he has a cute nose."  
  
James raised an eyebrow in amusement and looked over Sirius's shoulder to the door. "That would explain why he just walked in here grinning like a maniac then." James laughed at the shocked expression on Sirius's face.  
  
"He…what?!?" Sirius asked, spinning around to see Remus coming across the Hall rather quickly, and he did indeed, have a huge grin plastered to his face. He arrived at the Gryffindor table only moments later. "Hey Moony." Sirius grinned, somehow overcoming his embarrassment. "Sorry about that."  
  
"No problem." Remus said as he sat down, still smiling. James chuckled softly under his breath from across the table. He suddenly found it rather amusing that Remus and Sirius had sat next to each other at every opportunity since their very first day of school. He'd never really thought about it before, and they probably hadn't either. It just, happened like that. 'Must be fate.' James thought in explanation. It almost seemed…natural.  
  
"Oi, Prongs?" Sirius asked. "Mind sharing the joke with us?"  
  
"Nope." James grinned. "Just a funny thought."  
  
Remus and Sirius turned to each other, shrugged, and grinned.  
  
'Come to think of it, they've always done that too.' James added to his mental list of 'reasons Remus and Sirius are fated'.  
  
"Yeah, well, ANYWAYS…" Remus said, bringing James back to reality. "What're we going to do this evening? We have absolutely NOTHING planned."  
  
"Hmm..." James mused, "That may be because we've had an unusually small number of detentions and have already pulled our prepared pranks. Anyone up for Wizard's Chess? I've got first slot."  
  
Remus shrugged. "Fine by me. I'll take first game. What about you Siri?"  
  
"Fine here." Sirius said. "I'll play winner. Pete?"  
  
"I'll just watch." Peter said from his seat next to James. He never really said much, but was excellent at pranks due to the fact that no one ever saw him coming. But he really was no good at chess.  
  
"Alright then." James said, setting down his fork. "Who's ready to get their butt kicked?"  
  
"You are." Remus replied casually.  
  
"Most likely. Oh well, let's play!" James said, standing up and heading towards Gryffindor tower, Remus, Sirius, and Peter close behind.  
  
~*~  
  
-2 hours later-  
  
"Okay, this is getting boring." Sirius stated from his position, sprawled out on the floor. James and Remus were on their 3rd game, Sirius having jumped in periodically for a game, he almost always lost though. Especially when he played Remus, he was constantly being distracted.  
  
"Very true." Remus agreed with a yawn. With a quick flick of his wand and a soft spell, all the chess pieces floated neatly back into their box. Meanwhile, Remus stood up from his stool and flopped down on the couch next to Sirius. (Sirius HAD been sitting there at one point…)  
  
"Alright, alright, point taken." James said, waving his arms in the air. "How about a game of…Truth or Dare?" He asked, grinning wickedly.  
  
"So we're going to play it properly then?" Remus asked. James nodded. "Alright then."  
  
"Same here James." Sirius responded from the floor. Peter nodded.  
  
James grinned and jumped up on the now-clear chess table. "ANYONE WANT TO PLAY TRUTH OR DARE?" He yelled. A few people came over to join them, including Lily Evans, Alice Rosen, Frank Longbottom, Bill Weasley, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and a handful of Gryffindors Sirius didn't know, most of them girls. "Not bad." James hopped down and sat next to Sirius, who had returned to his old spot on the couch, next to Remus. Peter was in an armchair nearby, Lily next to him on a sofa with two other girls. Kingsley and Bill were seated cross-legged on the floor, while Frank and Alice laid claim to the last couch.  
  
"Who's first?" Sirius asked.  
  
"I'll go." One of the girls sitting beside Lily said with an evil glint in her eye. "Lily."  
  
"Dare." She stated, unfalteringly.  
  
"Kiss James. On the lips."  
  
Lily's face twisted into a look of disgust. "You've go to be kidding me." The girl shook her head. James grinned like a maniac. "I'm going to kill you, you know that, right?" Lily muttered as she stood up and walked over to James, kissed him quickly, and walked back to her seat, making faces the whole time. "Okay, Remus."  
  
"Truth." Remus replied, holding his hands behind his head.  
  
"Ah- the great mystery. Why are you always absent?" She asked, tilting her head.  
  
Remus blanched noticeably. "Dare."  
  
"Shucks. Umm…Eat a salad tomorrow at lunch." It was well known that Remus HATED salad and would take meat over any vegetable.  
  
Remus grimaced, but nodded in agreement. "James."  
  
"Truth."  
  
"Who do you like?"  
  
"Damn you. Not telling. Dare."  
  
Remus laughed. "Knew you'd do that. Let's see…next solo prank, steal all of Malfoy's underwear."  
  
James laughed and nodded. "Sirius."  
  
"Dare, for fear of what truth may be." Sirius said with a shudder.  
  
"Kiss Remus. On the lips." James grinned evilly. Sirius gave him one good glare before turning to face Remus, who also happened to be glaring at James. Sirius didn't notice as he took a deep breath and leaned into Remus, gently kissing him.  
  
'Great Merlin his lips are soft.' Sirius thought as he did so. Then, much to his delight and surprise, Remus leaned into HIM, pushing his lips even closer before slowly pulling away, smiling. Sirius almost melted into the seat, and had he been standing, he surely would have fallen over.  
  
Everyone stared at him for a moment until he threw a pillow at Bill whose mouth happened to be hanging open. Everyone laughed and the silence was broken.  
  
"Peter."  
  
"Truth."  
  
"What did you do Wednesday night?" Sirius asked, finally, Wormtail- Exposed!  
  
Peter laughed. "Oh, you mean when I put that frog spewing charm on Ventrax's desk drawer?" He asked innocently, referring to their potions teacher. Everyone stared at him in shock. "What? You mean you thought I was a marauder who never pulled pranks? No way. I just don't get caught." Peter grinned triumphantly from his chair at the shocked faced surrounding him. "Oh just chill out. Bill."  
  
"Dare."  
  
"Hmm…how about you drink this?" Peter asked, pulling a flask out of his pocket.  
  
"What's it do?"  
  
"You'll see when you drink it. It won't hurt you, promise." Peter assured him, handing him the flask. Bill slowing uncorked it and downed to contents in one swallow. Just as quickly as he drank the potion, his skin started changing random colors. He looked down at the back of his hand and laughed.  
  
"How long will this last?" He asked, grinning.  
  
"24 hours." Remus supplied. You'll be the topic of conversation tomorrow.  
  
And so the game continued until midnight when Lily demanded they go to bed. Only James noticed the frequent glances that had past between his two best friends and he went to bed smiling with satisfaction at a job well done, leaving Remus and Sirius alone downstairs.  
  
--------  
  
R&R...please??? 


	5. Together at last

AN- AH! I love you guys, I really do. So many reviews for 4 chapters! Well, here is your reward! A FIFTH CHAPTER! Yeah, it's really not going very far in here, just nice, loverly fluff. Best kind eh? I promise, a plot will surface soon. BTW- this takes place in spring of their 5th year. Ah- well, I love you all! Read and review! (You're all wonderful at it after all! *beams*)  
  
Disclaimer- Not mine....I want...want to steal...must not steal, must not steal...BAD LILA! BAD LILA! *slams head against wall* Ah well, they aren't mine, and never will be. All bow to J.K. Rowling...  
  
Yes, yes, getting on with it!  
  
_________________  
  
Sirius looked up at Remus after everyone had gone upstairs. Remus was still standing there, just looking at him. Sirius blushed and looked down at his feet.  
  
"I…err…um..." he stumbled looking for something to say. When he looked up again, Remus was closer. Sirius gulped nervously. "Um…Remus?" he asked hesitantly, "Can I…may I…kiss you again?"  
  
Remus smiled, stepped forwards and nodded before quickly pressing his lips to Sirius's. Sirius felt the world around him spin like a top before he slowly pulled away.  
  
"Sirius, I love you." Remus stated simply. How could he be so calm? Sirius stood there shocked for a moment, unable to say anything at all. "Sirius…I…will you be my…my…mate?" Remus asked slowly, trembling slightly in Sirius's arms. Sirius blinked in confusion. Was this really happening? COULD this really happen?  
  
"I…" Sirius began, but Remus cut him off.  
  
"You don't have to decide now; I can wait for an answer." Remus said quickly. "I just, I just love you Sirius, and I can only hope you feel the same way about me."  
  
In response, Sirius leaned over and kissed Remus again, only this time more slowly. He smiled down at Remus when their lips parted and whispered. "I…I want to be with you Moony. I want to be with you always."  
  
The smile on Remus's face just then was the most beautiful thing Sirius had ever seen. So beautiful that he could hardly help himself from smiling right back down at the slightly shorter werewolf.  
  
"You know what Moony?" Sirius asked, grinning. Remus tilted his head slightly. "I'm not sure whether I should kill or hug James. He scared the shit out of me, but ended up to be one damn good matchmaker."  
  
Remus laughed, a sound like silver to Sirius's ears. "You know…that's a good point. And it brings up another question. What're we going to say to everyone? Or should we say anything at all?"  
  
"Hmm…I say we let them figure out." Sirius said before suddenly sweeping Remus off the ground and swinging him around in a circle.  
  
"Why's that?" Remus asked when his feet were safely returned to the ground and he had caught his breath from laughing.  
  
"Well, that way we don't kill James for the fright, but we aren't being completely nice about it either. He deserves a LITTLE punishment for that at least!" Sirius said with a flourish.  
  
"And not to mention the humor factor, eh Padfoot?" Remus added with a smile.  
  
"Indeed not my dear Moony!" Sirius stated before leaning down to kiss Remus once again before they both went up to bed, quietly so as not to disturb the sleeping, and unsuspecting, James.  
  
~*~  
  
As soon as Remus and Sirius had turned the corner to their dorm, James's slipped the invisibility cloak off his head, grinning like a madman.  
  
"Perfect." He stated to the empty room before darting upstairs, hoping his absence had gone unnoticed.  
  
~*~  
  
Sirius yawned and stretched the next morning as the sun woke him.  
  
"Damn, forgot to close the curtains," he mumbled, trying to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight. He quickly rolled over and stuffed his head under the pillow in an attempt to hide from the 'bloody sunlight'.  
  
"I don't think so Siri!" Remus stated, just before pulling the pillow out of Sirius's grasp.  
  
"ARG! MOONY! GIVE THAT BACK!" Sirius hollered, leaping out of bed.  
  
"What ever for?" Remus asked calmly from his perch on Sirius's trunk. "After all, you're out of bed now, which was the purpose of stealing it to begin with." Remus laughed and tossed the pillow back onto Sirius's bed. "Rise and shine, love. It's a beautiful day."  
  
Sirius smiled, finally noticing the absence of their dorm mates. "Say, where is everyone?"  
  
"Eating. They still believe in Saturday morning breakfast after all."  
  
"And you don't?"  
  
"I believe in breakfast at 7, not 10:30." Remus replied with a smirk.  
  
"You get up to bloody early, Moony." Sirius said, just as he did every morning.  
  
"Yes well, it leaves marvelous opportunities wide open." Remus once again smiled, it was becoming almost intoxicating to Sirius to see him smile, so…inviting.  
  
Sirius grinned and walked closer to Remus, so that he was now only a few inches from his face. Quickly taking up on his 'opportunity,' Remus tilted his chin up slightly and leaned into Sirius, whose lips had descended to Remus's within moments.  
  
The kiss, although chaste, lasted rather longer than anticipated and was only broken by the tell tale noise of someone running up the stairs. Sirius gave Remus another soft kiss before parting towards his trunk.  
  
"Who needs breakfast when they can have Moony in the morning?" he asked quietly just as the door opened to reveal a panting James who was holding something tightly in his fist, grinning triumphantly.  
  
"Padfoot! Moony! Look what I caught!" he exclaimed happily, shoving his clenched hands in front of them.  
  
"Err...James?" Sirius asked, frowning in confusion, "We all know you have hands…"  
  
"No you stupid git, INSIDE my hands…I caught a Snitch just lurking around outside!" James was positively BOUNCING in excitement. Sirius quickly caught on and smiled, trying to cover his disappointment that such an interruption couldn't be more important. No rogue Snitch was worth more attention than his Moony. Remus was now sitting on his bed, his eyes dancing with mirth.  
  
'I swear,' Sirius thought to himself, smiling fondly at Remus, 'I've never seen him this…this…happy.'  
  
Remus chose that moment to add his two knuts to the conversation. "Well, now you can practice catching it. Maybe you'll catch it more often on the pitch." He stated before quickly grabbing Sirius and using him as a human shield.  
  
"Oi! Not fair Moony!" Sirius protested. "No innocent bystander should be injured here!"  
  
James, who had been close to throwing something (he didn't know what) at Remus, suddenly began laughing at the show they were putting on.  
  
"Not funny!" Sirius hollered, grabbing Remus's pillow and throwing it at James.  
  
"Hey, that's mine!" Remus yelled, releasing Sirius and grabbing for the pillow. He missed and Sirius took the opportunity to pounce on the flying Remus to prevent him from once again stealing his pillow.  
  
"You already took that once this morning!" Sirius said, quickly removing the pillow from Remus's reach. Remus twisted out from underneath Sirius and darted over to James's bed where he grabbed that pillow and threw it at Sirius. Sirius, however, saw it coming and ducked, leaving James to take the pillow right in the face.  
  
"Oh no," James said, releasing the snitch and picking up the nearest pillow. "You don't insult me and throw two pillows at me, one of which happens to be MINE, without some retribution!" James threw both pillows with almost startling accuracy, knocking Sirius over and hitting Remus in the face.  
  
In the moment that followed, Sirius stood up, brushed himself off and stated nonchalantly, "I think, my dear Marauders, we have begun a WAR!" With that, Sirius grabbed the pillow that had knocked him over and beat James over the head with it. Pretty soon, the only thing that could be seen were three teenage boys, one still in his pajamas, covered in feathers. Peter opened the door at one point, only to quickly shut it to avoid a pillow that was hurtling towards him. He turned around and retreated to the relative 'safety' of the Commons to be entertained by the color-changing Bill Weasly.  
  
~*~  
  
The pillow fight finally came to an end at noon when Remus announced that it was lunchtime. He was answered by a loud growl from Sirius's stomach.  
  
"Sirius?" Remus asked. Sirius looked up from the pillow he was repairing. "Are you ever going to get dressed?"  
  
Sirius looked down at the boxers and white t-shirt he was still wearing and laughed. "I suppose I should, and I also suppose I should eat." He added, pulling a clean set of robes out of his trunk and heading towards the bathroom.  
  
Remus turned to James who was directing the feathers floating in a corner back into what was his pillow. "Go ahead, I'll take care of this mess." He stated after James had made several failed attempts to get the feathers INTO the pillow instead around it.  
  
"Thanks Moony, see you in a few minutes." James said before bolting out the door and towards the Great Hall.  
  
Remus had all the pillows back together in no time. Charms came easily for him. Sirius came back fully clothed with his hair neatened…slightly.  
  
"Time for food?" Sirius asked hopefully.  
  
"Ah, can't live entirely on me now can you?" Remus asked as Sirius's stomach let out another grumble. "We'll go, but you don't get through this door without giving me another kiss." Remus said, standing squarely in front of the door.  
  
"Oh such sacrifice." Sirius said, sarcasm positively dripping from his voice as he advanced on Remus. He leaned down and planted his lips once more upon his prize before pulling back, smiling. "As much as I love doing that…let's go eat." He said, lifting Remus off the ground and almost carrying him down the stairs to the commons, which was empty, thankfully.  
  
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R&R! Pretty please? Pretty pretty please? I'll give you a cookie if you do! (really! I will!) 


	6. Memories of the past

AN- Yes this is longer, that's mostly because I couldn't get fanfiction to work when i wanted to upload, thus I got bored and wrote more. Alot more. Anyhow...for those of you who reviewed the last chapter (I'd list names, but ff.net is still down...) go to http://www.whymsy.net/cookies.gif and get your cookie. You can see they didn't really want to go through the computer...*sighs* Anyhow...There is now some plot! I'm working on it still, so it's a little...confusing. Basically it explains alot of history in this chapter...couple of memories/flashbacks. Fun stuff and all ya know? Yeah, anyways...Thanks for reading this far. I love yall, bear with me a bit longer, you'll see my plot sooner or later!  
  
~Lila  
  
Disclaimer- They aren't mine. I wish they were, as always. Oh, and I found the cookie picture on google, believe it or not. Image search is your friend when your house lacks cookies to take pictures of. *sigh*  
  
OH! I updated, do I get a Moony plushie? *bounces hopefully* and it's even almost double length! *laughs* Also, I enjoyed Sirius dipped in chocolate sauce. Yum. *drools* Thanks yall, you really do make my day, trust me!  
  
Sorry about the long AN, I'm bored. On with the story!  
  
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-2 weeks later-  
  
"Last minute studying Padfoot?" James asked as he walked into the Commons Room. Sirius was bent over his potions book, reading frantically. Potions was their last OWL and Remus wasn't here to help him study. Sirius just nodded and went back to reading.  
  
"Aha." James said as he sat down across from Sirius.  
  
"Moony just left. Are we still on for tonight?" Sirius asked quietly, not looking up from his book.  
  
James nodded, then grinned before changing the subject. "Padfoot- why do I get the feeling that you're keeping something from me?"  
  
Sirius blushed and finally looked up from the book. "Because you already know. So what's the point in telling you?"  
  
"Why not? And I only know because I pay ATTENTION. I notice that you two will both disappear and then reappear looking much happier. I notice that when he catches you staring at him you don't blush like you used to, but smile at him. I notice the way you look at each other and I noticed that neither of you came up to the dorm directly after that game of truth or dare." James smiled triumphantly and leaned back in his chair.  
  
Sirius, much to James's surprise, laughed. "You notice a lot, and that game is exactly why I didn't tell you! You scared the shit out of me."  
  
"Then why didn't you choose truth?" James asked, back to his usual grin.  
  
"The dare was safer than any truth YOU could have come up with." Sirius responded with another laugh.  
  
James laughed and looked down at his watch. "Well, time's a wasting. We need to get moving.  
  
"Right." Sirius said, closing the book and following James to their door, which they would soon be leaving.  
  
~*~  
  
'Moony?' Padfoot barked as he, Prongs, and Wormtail entered the shrieking shack.  
  
'Come find me!' Moony barked in return from somewhere upstairs. Padfoot was all too happy to oblige and was on the hunt instantly, leaving Prongs and Wormtail to figure out what was going on for themselves.  
  
Prongs watched as Padfoot ran off. One of these days he was going to put a serious effort into learning canine so he'd understand what the bloody hell those two were up to half the time. Yet, under the present circumstances, maybe ignorance could be bliss. The inner James shrugged and Prongs followed his companions onto a night of adventures, Wormtail holding on tightly.  
  
~*~  
  
"Sirius…SIRIUS!" Sirius awoke quickly as Remus poked him. "Get up love, Poppy will be here soon. You NEED to be up there."  
  
Sirius looked down at his watch and cursed as he jumped up. It was already 5:30. Poppy left the castle at 6.  
  
"Bloody hell! What did I go and fall ASLEEP for?!?" He exclaimed as he quickly made ready to leave. 5:34 AM. Remus looked slightly amused as he sat on the bed, his bones not exactly where they belonged. Just like every transformation, well, better than most. Sirius cursed even louder when he realized James and Peter were long gone. "Bye love." He said, kissing Remus. "See you soon."  
  
"Hurry back to me." Remus said as Sirius quickly disappeared back out of the shack.  
  
~*~  
  
Sirius grumbled under his breath all the way back to the castle. He remembered Remus's first transformation here VERY clearly. That's why he always had to meet Poppy…Madam Pompfrey that is. Remus had almost killed himself that night. He'd been in so much pain that it had woken Sirius from his very restless sleep. They'd always been close, they'd been friends long before Hogwarts. Before…everything.   
  
That night Sirius had literally forced Madam Pompfrey to go to Remus at 4 AM, and demanded to be allowed to come as well. Even she admitted he might not have lived with all that blood loss if left for the next two hours. Ever since then he'd had special permission to go with Madam Pompfrey to take care of Remus every morning after the full moon. She trusted them. She trusted them enough to let them call her 'Poppy,' providing none of the other teachers were nearby to hear. It was fun to be trusted by her, but it meant that since they'd become animangi, Sirius never got any sleep on the night of a full moon. Unless of course he fell asleep in the shack, like this morning. But it was worth every minute of sleep deprivation. It was worth it to help Remus.  
  
Sirius made it to the castle at 5:50 AM and to the door of the infirmary at 5:57. He looked very disheveled, but that was…normal. He walked in quietly and went directly to Poppy, who was just putting on her hat.  
  
"Good morning Sirius." She smiled. Sirius always thought she had a nice smile, very motherly. Very unlike HIS mother. "Ready to go?"  
  
Sirius nodded. "Almost overslept. I had to run most of the way here. I didn't want to be late." He said as he tried to catch his breath. The funny part was that it was absolutely true.  
  
"Pleasant dreams?" She asked. She'd been gauging Remus's transformations on Sirius's dreams ever since they'd figured out that the more restless Sirius had slept, the more Remus had torn himself up. Before the other marauders had begun joining Remus, they'd almost always been bad.  
  
Sirius nodded. "I think he's finally stopped eating himself." He smiled; knowing the truth of the matter was that he was being sufficiently distracted. He'd always been able to do that with his dreams. 'Sometimes,' Sirius thought, 'it's ironic how fate plays her cards.'  
  
~*~  
  
Remus and Sirius were lucky with their potions owl in one respect; they got to take it last. That meant they could have a little time to rest up before taking the horrid thing. Of course they weren't entirely 'bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,' but no one expected them to be. With the given circumstances, it was pretty amazing how much they could actually remember. Sirius blamed it on his last minute cram session the night before; Remus firmly believed that his steady studying over the course of the year did the trick. He'd always studied, Sirius rarely did. Even still, they were perfectly matched. Everything in life was perfect, except the fact that the year at Hogwarts was soon coming to a close.  
  
That night, the Marauders were sitting in the Commons Room discussing their next idea…  
  
"Why don't we do something on the train?" Peter suggested. "After all, it's too late to give detentions for this year…"  
  
"A new record!" James exclaimed. "Detention on the first day of school, before we even get there."  
  
Sirius laughed. "Sounds like fun. So what're we going to do?"  
  
"Err…" Peter stumbled, "I didn't think of that yet."  
  
"We could cast invisibility charms on all the Slytherins' trunks." Remus suggested. "That would cause a lot of mayhem."  
  
Remus looked around and noticed the shocked expressions on James and Peter's faces. He didn't usually come up with the pranks, just how to pull them off. Sirius just looked proud.  
  
"What? I've hanging around you guys for the past five years, you know SOME of it had to rub off!" Remus laughed.  
  
Sirius joined in the laughter. "And remember, this is the wizard who started his first year by turning Snape's hair about 10 different colors. Don't tell me he's no prankster!" Sirius threw his arm over Remus's shoulder and pulled him into a half hug. Remus blushed a little.  
  
"Yeah well, I'd spent three years by myself, it was time to actually have some fun." Remus grinned and popped a chocolate frog into his mouth.  
  
"Quiet down, will you!" Frank Longbottom yelled from the other side of the room. "Some of us still have to study!"  
  
"Right." James whispered, "So here's what we do…"  
  
~*~  
  
Sirius sighed as the plans were discussed. He never really liked summer. Summer break meant he had to go home to a family that he hated. His mother had hated him since he was eight. She hated the fact that his best friend was a 'vile half-breed' and he refused to betray his friendship. She'd forbidden him to see Remus ever again, not that he listened. Remus was his best friend and there was no way he was going to give that up. Now he was even more than that. Sirius sighed again and drifted off to a dreamland of memories…  
  
~*~  
  
"98…99…100!" Sirius yelled into the apparently empty forest. "Ready or not! Here I come!" He and his friend had spent the afternoon playing hide and seek and nightfall was quickly approaching. He knew they'd have to quit soon, but there should be time for one last game. "They've gotten good…" he said aloud as he walked through the forest, looking for any sign of his friends. "I wonder where Remus is." Remus was his best friend. They drove their teachers, and parents, absolutely crazy since they'd met in preschool. One of the older kids had been teasing Sirius about his name. Remus had over heard the conversation and come to Sirius's 'rescue.' That kid had been paranoid of them for the rest of his preschool years.  
  
The bushes behind him moved.  
  
"Gotcha!" Sirius yelled as he spun around to face whoever it was he'd managed to find, only to come face to face with a pair of yellow eyes and a set of very sharp teeth. "Wolf..." he whispered in fear before turning and running as fast as his legs could carry him in the other direction. The wolf, however, was a lot faster than even the fastest of eight year old boys, and was gaining steadily on him. It wasn't long before the gap had closed to less than ten feet.  
  
Remus had been hiding in a nearby tree when he heard Sirius scream. Only moments later, Sirius came running into the clearing, the wolf hot on his trail. Without a second though, Remus jumped out of the tree, landing between Sirius and the wolf.  
  
Sirius spun around as he heard Remus land behind him. "No! Remus, get away!" he yelled, running back and grabbing hold of Remus's arm. At first he succeeded in pulling him away, but when he tried to step in front of him, Remus glared and pushed Sirius back just as the wolf leapt, landing with his teeth in Remus's shoulder.  
  
"NOOO!" The cry had been ripped from Sirius's chest and seemed to almost ripple with volume and power. The clearing was suddenly filled with a blinding white light and the wolf fell to the ground, dead.  
  
The wolf slowly began changing into a man as a voice, beautiful and powerful at the same time, floated along the breeze.  
  
"The bond of unconditional love can wield a power greater than all others. Grow well and strong, my children of the night."  
  
It faded as quickly as it came and the clearing was filled with the shouts of frantic parents, a dead werewolf, and two young boys, staring at each other, alive when they shouldn't be.  
  
~*~  
  
Sirius smiled at the memory. Ironically, the memories just after he remembered with far less fondness. Ah, what a bond had been forged that night! Sirius smiled again and looked at the treasure he held under his arm.  
  
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Please R&R! I'll come up with some sort of treat! Don't know what yet though! 


	7. Confrontation

AN- It's even LONGER! Wow. Almost 2,000 words this time, and most of five pages. Anyways. The encounter with the Black Familiy. Thanks to all yall that have reviewed, I was going to find you a treat, but I wanted to post this. So here it is, and those who reviewed, you get nice little virtual ice cream cones, ok? They're any flavour, since they're virtual. Even Padfoot or Moony flavoured if you want! Enjoy the story..and ice cream!  
  
Disclaimer- Not mine.  
  
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The last week at Hogwarts passed faster than Sirius ever imagined was possible. Especially since he didn't want it to. He was going to be forced to face his mother. Again. And Regulus will have told her that he's still friends with the Marauders. Again. Regulus was the sole reason Sirius couldn't let anyone know about him and Remus. And he hated him for it. Hated every single moment of torture he gave him. All Sirius wanted was to be able to hold Remus's hand in the halls, kiss him when the professors weren't looking, stare openly at him, and act like how he felt. Instead, he had to pretend to the whole world that he and Remus were 'just friends'. All because Regulus was a stupid, pain in the arse git who would find out. He always found out anything Sirius was trying to hide from him, the dirty, sneaky, conniving, blabbing little bastard that he was. And he would blab, Sirius knew it. Such a wonderful opportunity could not be passed up. Regulus reveled in telling their mother every single thing he did that was 'wrong'. The thing Sirius hated most about his mother was that she had this unexplained, unfounded, and undying hatred for 'vile half-breeds'. That combined with the fact she knew Remus was a werewolf was not at all comforting. He got enough bullshit about being his friend, he didn't want to suffer the extreme hearing loss that would ensue if she knew they were more than that.  
  
~*~  
  
The prank went off without a hitch, as was to be expected. McGonagall had made a wonderful show of being furious and assigning them detention during the feast at the very beginning of the next year, but Sirius had seen the sparkle of amusement dancing in her eyes.  
  
The marauders had retreated to the safety of their usual car and had made themselves comfortable, Remus and Sirius snuggled up together, Peter looking out the window, somewhere in outer space, and James talking animatedly to Remus and Sirius, completely unperturbed by how close they were sitting. Sirius dangled a chocolate front in front of Remus's nose teasingly only to pop it halfway into his own mouth. Remus laughed and turned around to steal the other half of it out of Sirius's mouth. With his teeth of course.  
  
"MUSHY MUSHY!" James exclaimed, hiding behind his hands and laughing. Peter turned around at the outburst. He raised an eyebrow and shook his head in amusement. He didn't really care in the least what they were up to. It was just good they were happy. Now if only he could be happy…He sighed and returned to staring out the window.  
  
Just then, as Remus and Sirius were parting, the door slammed open and who but that annoying twit of a brother should walk in. He seemed…furious.  
  
He looked around before his eyes came to rest on Sirius, who was still very attached to Remus and figuring there was no point in moving now. The damage had been done. His ears were in mortal peril, but he'd rather be holding onto Remus than worrying about that. "YOU!" he half yelled, half hissed. "YOU…YOU AND YOUR STUPID FRIENDS…" The third year was so furious that he couldn't seem to get anything past his lips.  
  
"Yes, us?" Sirius responded calmly, lifting an eyebrow at the bastard's speech difficulty. "What's the problem?" He inquired innocently.  
  
"You know DAMN well what the problem is you…you…pouf!" He responded.  
  
Sirius almost retaliated with some even nastier comment when he felt Remus's hand on his back. He resorted to the cool, calm, but internally furious approach. "Such lovely language." He said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "And no, I do NOT have any inkling as to what has you in such a fit."  
  
"Where is my TRUNK?!?" Regulus replied, starting with that hiss and ending with a very loud shout. Sirius covered his ears. Regulus had defiantly inherited his mother's lung capacity.  
  
"Right where it belongs." Remus quickly replied. "You just can't see it. Now piss off." Regulus turned to him and glared. Remus rolled his eyes and pulled out his wand. "You want to leave now?"  
  
Regulus's eyes had expanded. Remus Lupin with a wand was scary. Everyone in Slytherin had been warned of that. And since they hadn't left Hogwarts yet, it was perfectly legitimate for Remus to use magic. The story was that he had cursed Snape on the train ride to Hogwarts in their first year. From the look in Remus's eyes, Regulus was suddenly inclined to believe the story. He backed out and slammed the door before stalking down the train to his compartment.  
  
Sirius turned to Remus with an amused, but baffled expression. Remus just shrugged.  
  
"Well Remus, it seems some people still have a healthy fear of you." James stated, laughing.  
  
"Why would that be?" Remus looked extrememly confused. To all outward appearances he wasn't at all frightening.  
  
"You don't remember hexing Snape before we even started school?" James asked in shock.  
  
Peter laughed and jumped in. "Yeah, he was chasing me around and I ran in here. You knocked him cold without ever attending a class."  
  
Remus and Sirius suddenly burst out laughing, remembering everyone's reaction.  
  
"That's right!" Sirius added. "Then you refused to un-jinx him and made Malfoy drag him off to someone else." Sirius chuckled at the memory of Snape being drug around by the little blond haired twit. "He's so stupid. I can't believe anyone would want to date my COUSIN…" he added. He'd been quite shocked when he saw his younger cousin holding Malfoy's hand earlier that year.  
  
Remus grinned. "As I recall, James. Your reaction was priceless."  
  
James blushed and looked down. He'd sat and stared in shock for a good five minutes before he snapped out of it. "Yeah, ok, well, change of subject…" He said quickly. "Do you think England has any chance at getting into the World Cup this year?"  
  
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Please James, you know their keeper couldn't block a quaffle to save his life!"  
  
And the train ride continued with relative normalcy and a few quick kisses.  
  
~*~  
  
The train pulled up to King's Cross a few hours later and the students quickly departed for vacation. Sirius was walking out the door of their compartment when he felt a hard tug on his wrist. He stopped and turned to see Remus grinning at him. He didn't have a chance to think before Remus had pulled him into the corner behind the door and claimed his lips with his own. Sirius made happy little noises and pulled Remus closer to him, wrapping his arms around his waist and lightly tracing his fingers across his back. Remus responded in kind, holding onto Sirius as if his life depended on it. A few minutes later he breathlessly broke the kiss and stepped back. "We need to go now." He said, smiling.  
  
"Of course my dear Moony." Sirius smiled and kissed Remus's cheek. "I'll think of you everyday and write as often as I can."  
  
Remus smiled and burrowed his nose in Sirius's shoulder. "I love you."  
  
"I love you too." Sirius replied, surprised he had no difficulties in saying the phrase he had never said in his life. "That's the first time I've said that." He calmly remarked, much to Remus's surprise. "But I think I'll being saying it a lot now. C'mon love." Sirius said, tugging on Remus's hand. "We really need to go now." The train was now almost empty. They quickly exited the train, only dropping hands when they absolutely had to.  
  
Remus turned to him just before their separate ways. "I'll miss you love. Try and come see me?"  
  
"I'll do my best." Sirius responded before turning with distaste towards his family. "Love you Moony." He whispered with a smile before running off to his parents.  
  
~*~  
  
The journey to Twelve Grimmauled Place had passed in complete silence, surprisingly. Sirius sighed, knowing the silence wouldn't last long, especially after what Regulus had seen on the train. The moment he told their mother, silence would be the last thing on anyone's mind.  
  
~*~  
  
-Dinner time-  
  
"Regulus, dear, how was Hogwarts this year?" Mrs. Black asked that night over dinner. Regulus smiled and nodded as he ate. "Did you behave yourself like a good boy?"  
  
"Oh yes mother." He replied after having swallowed his food. "I've made friends with some good families. You know Narcissa is dating a Malfoy now? I think they look great together. Good ties for our family too." Mrs. Black smiled happily, much to Sirius's disgust.  
  
"They must look charming together." Mrs. Black beamed before turning to Sirius. Her expression took a dive for the worst. "And you? Are you still friends with those…"  
  
"YES." Sirius said forcefully. He didn't want to give her a chance to respond. Didn't want to hear what she was going to say about his best friends.  
  
"And that…that…" She continued, unfazed by his interruption.  
  
"Don't you dare say it, mother. He is my FRIEND." She glared at him.  
  
"Oooo…" Regulus chose that moment to enter the conversation. "You'd never guess what I saw on the train today!" Regulus, the sick little bastard, was practically jumping with glee. Mrs. Black returned her attention to him, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. "I saw him and that Lupin boy with the Potter kid and that idiot Pettigrew…"  
  
"Shut UP about my friends you little TWIT!" Sirius yelled, slamming his fists on the table and causing his glass to jump and fall over. Mrs. Black turned to him and glared again.  
  
"You WILL be quite and letter your brother finish what he was saying!" She said hotly before waving her wand and cleaning up the mess he'd made. She then turned back to Regulus and nodded. Sirius tried, and failed, to suppress a low growl. His mother ignored him.  
  
"Well, as I was saying, they were in this compartment, I went back to have a word with Sirius here to see him sitting rather closer than is necessary to that half-breed…"  
  
"His NAME is Remus. I should think you would know that after you ran from the compartment!" Sirius was quickly losing control of his temper. Regretfull, so was his mother.  
  
She turned to Sirius, far angrier than he'd ever seen her. "WHY were you sitting so close to a vile HALF-BREED?" She yelled.  
  
Sirius rolled his eyes. He had ZERO patience for his family. "Why do you think?" he replied sarcastically. His mother nearly spat with fury.  
  
"Are you SLEEPING WITH THAT…THAT…CREATURE?!?!"  
  
'Oh boy, bye bye hearing…' Sirius thought, wincing at the volume before retorting angrily.  
  
"NO! You stupid COW! I'm barely SIXTEEN! I am not sleeping with ANYONE! I am NOT Regulus!" He yelled, no longer caring what happened. He already knew it wasn't going to turn out well. Why delay the inevitable?  
  
"THEN WHY?" Mrs. Black continued to yell, as Sirius supposed she would for a while.  
  
"BECAUSE I LOVE HIM, DAMNIT!" Sirius was REALLY losing it now.  
  
"I…I…" Sirius's mother stuttered, obviously taken aback. Regulus was enjoying himself to some extent. He wasn't exactly happy about the jab towards him, but otherwise, he found these fights rather…amusing. "I forbid you to do such a thing!"  
  
Sirius laughed. "You will not." He stated, still laughing. "You can't forbid me from loving him."  
  
"I can forbid you from seeing him though!" She retorted furiously.  
  
"Oh I think not." Sirius responded. "Because I'm LEAVING. Sixteen years here is way too long. GOODBYE mother. I hope I never see you again as long as I live!" Sirius spat on the table and walked out of the room. He grabbed his trunk which was still by the door and drug it to the side of the road. He stuck out his wand and smiled as the Knight Bus came ricocheting down Grimmauled Place…  
  
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R&R! Please! 


	8. Run away home

AN- OK, here goes. And just FYI, in the books, he said 'I was always welcome at the Potter's for Sunday lunch'. So by rights, that doesn't mean he went there...so it follows the book! w00t! Yeah, enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer- as always, not mine.  
  
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"The Lupin Residence please." Sirius stated as the bus stopped right next to him.  
  
The man at the door held out a hand. "That will be eleven sickles." Sirius smiled and handed the man the money before pulling his trunk onto the bus. He walked to the nearest seat and sat down, smiling triumphantly.  
  
A young woman was sitting next to him and started when she got a good look at his face. "You're Sirius Black, aren't you?"  
  
Sirius turned to her in shock and nodded. She smiled.  
  
"Run away?"  
  
"Yeah, took me sixteen years to do it though."  
  
The young woman laughed. "Well, it took me twenty, so don't feel bad."  
  
Sirius was growing more confused by the moment. "Who are you, how did you know my name, and how did you know I was running away?"  
  
She smiled again. "Easy, I know you from pictures, this is the Knight Bus, if you're running away, it's the way to go, not to mention living in any Black household is like living hell, and I'm Andromeda."  
  
Sirius's eyes widened in comprehension. Andromeda was Narcissa's older sister. She was just as much an oddball to the Black family as he was. Though he wouldn't have to know that to know they were related. The Black family had this weird habit of naming their children after stars…  
  
"What made you leave?" She asked.  
  
Sirius blushed. "I'm in Gryffindor, and I have friends there that my mother doesn't…approve of. I couldn't stand another summer of her ranting about how I shouldn't be friends with them. I guess the final straw was..." Sirius grew quiet and blushed beet red. "Well, I love one of them very much…"  
  
Andromeda smiled gently. "I understand. I have a similar situation actually; I'm engaged to a muggle-born. Let's just say they weren't very happy about that…"  
  
Sirius laughed. No self-respecting Black would be at ALL happy about that. "Yeah, makes sense. I discovered they don't like their sons to fall in love with male 'vile half-breeds' either." He remarked dryly.  
  
Andromeda's eyebrow lifted slightly in amusement. "I would imagine not."  
  
The driver pulled the bus to a screeching stop. "LUPIN RESIDENCE!"  
  
Sirius stood up and shook Andromeda's hand. "It was nice talking to you. Drop me an owl sometime will you?" She smiled and nodded before looking down at the mess of her belongings that had spilt when the bus stopped. She waved her wand and it all flew neatly back into her suitcase.  
  
"Good luck Sirius."  
  
Sirius turned back and waved as he exited the bus, happy to have finally found a decent relative.  
  
~*~  
  
Sirius slowly made his way up the lawn to the Lupins' house. It had been years since he'd been here, not since he was eight actually. His stupid mother had forbid it, of course. Remus's parents had actually tried to keep him from having friends too, due to his 'condition'. So neither had been allowed to see or owl each other…It took a lot of thinking to keep them in contact, but somehow, they'd managed. They'd always been close, but since that night, they grew even closer, even though they were forced apart. Sometimes fate really enjoyed being weird.  
  
When he finally reached the door he stopped to swallow the lump that had risen in his throat. He hadn't really thought of what would happen once he GOT here. Would he be allowed to stay? Did Remus's parents remember him? What were they like now? Sirius had no idea. Taking a deep breath, he quickly knocked on the door.  
  
He heard a distant yell of 'I'll get it!' in an oh-so-sweet and familiar voice. "Remus. Thank God." He said quietly under his breath just as the door opened to reveal Remus standing there slightly out of breath.  
  
Remus stopped dead and stared in shock at Sirius, who was grinning at him stupidly. As the truth began to sink in he began to smile. Sirius was HERE. At his house.  
  
"Sirius!" He exclaimed happily after a few minutes. He quickly drew him into a tight hug. "What're you doing here?"  
  
Sirius smirked and looked back at his trunk. "I ran away. Can I stay here?"  
  
"You WHAT?" Remus stared at him in shock for the second time in less than a minute. "Why?"  
  
"Dear old mum was being absolutely unbearable. I couldn't take it any longer. I blew up at her and, well…left." Sirius grinned at how simple it really was. WHY hadn't he done this sooner? It would have saved him so much agony, and so much pain for his ears…  
  
Remus shook his head in bewilderment. "Well, come in then. I'll have to ask Mum and Dad, but I don't think they'll mind. They were really protective and all…but I think they'll let you at least stay." Remus grinned and helped Sirius lift his trunk, setting it just inside the door. "Wait here love, I'll be right back." Remus gave Sirius a quick kiss before running off into the deeper parts of the house, calling for his parents.  
  
Within moments, he returned with both of them in tow.  
  
"Mum, Dad, you remember Sirius, right?" Mrs. Lupin nodded and smiled. "Well, he needs somewhere to stay for the summer, can he stay with us?" Remus looked up at his parents hopefully, begging them to let him stay. "Please? I mean, it's not like it would hurt anything…"  
  
Mr. Lupin smirked and looked at Remus. They actually were almost the exact same height. "I know son. And from what you've told us, he deserves a thank you. If it weren't for him, I'm not sure you'd be standing here today."  
  
Sirius blushed bright red, redder than he had on the Knight bus. "It was a err…sort of mutual thing, sir. I know I wouldn't be here if not for Remus, and well, things just sort of turned out this way didn't they?" Sirius was now thoroughly embarrassed and was staring fixedly at his feet.  
  
"Look up dear." Mrs. Lupin said gently. "There's no need to be embarrassed about anything. You're welcome to stay here as long as you need to." Sirius looked up and smiled brightly at the Lupins. "I'm afraid we don't have a guest bedroom though, so I hope you don't mind sharing a room with Remus. It should be more than large enough."  
  
"I don't mind at all, ma'am. Rather used to it, sharing a dorm and all…" Sirius replied happily. This was shaping up to be a very, very good summer so far.  
  
"C'mon Sirius, I'll show you where it is and help you get your trunk up there!" Remus said, bouncing up and down. He looked so adorable when he was excited. Sirius had a terrible urge to kiss him right then and there, but forced himself to control the urge seeing as Remus's parents were standing there, watching them…  
  
"Alright. Let's go then Moony!" Sirius and Remus each grabbed an end of the trunk before racing off to Remus's room as though they were eight years old again.  
  
Mrs. Lupin turned to her husband and smiled. "I hate to say it, but I'm rather glad he finally ran away from his home."  
  
Mr. Lupin nodded. "Me too dear, I can already see the difference in Remus. There's defiantly something to be said about that boy. I'm not sure what it is, but he sure makes our Rem happy. And he deserves happiness; he's been denied so much of it thus far in life."  
  
Mrs. Lupin sighed and leaned against him. "I'm glad we finally stopped being afraid."  
  
"So am I dear, so am I."  
  
~*~  
  
The Lupin house wasn't very big at all, but it was comfortable. There were only two bedrooms, but there was a nice sitting room, a dinning room, and a kitchen. Everything was on the bottom story except for Remus's room which was the entire top floor, even so, it wasn't *that* big. The back yard was surprisingly, large. There was a shed near the woods and a giant tree near the back porch. Otherwise the yard was wide and open. Perfect for a nice romp about.  
  
It took a good five minutes for Remus and Sirius to get the trunk up the narrow stairway. When they got there, Remus opened to door and gestured for Sirius to enter.  
  
"Guests first."  
  
Sirius laughed and walked into the room with his side of the trunk, giving it a jerk as he did so to make Remus follow more quickly. Remus stumbled, but caught himself. This sort of thing was normal for him; he usually shrugged it off as 'wolf reflexes'.   
  
Sirius took a quick survey of the room. There was stuff literally everywhere. HE could make out the outline of a dresser and a desk covered with books and papers, a window seat with more books, a fair sized bed, and a bookshelf. Just like Remus to have books all over the place. It was like…sleeping in the library!  
  
Sirius turned to Remus and grinned. "I like it. One bed, eh?"  
  
Remus laughed. "See anywhere for another one to fit?"  
  
Sirius shook his head, smiling. "That's one of the reasons I like it." He set the trunk down next to Remus's before pulling Remus to him for an impromptu series of kisses.  
  
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R&R! Please?? 


	9. Nightmare

AN- Ok, first off, THIS IS NOT AND WILL NOT BE A LEMON. POint blanck. So stop making the weird comments about the bed thing. Just because they share a bed doesn't mean they're having sex. Sometimes it's just nice to sleep in the arms of the one you love. No funny stuff! Sheese! No gutter related thoughts, Ok? With that said...onwards we go. A major thank you to Uozumi for the marathon review. I was bouncing up and down in my seat when I saw how looooong it was. Lol. Yeah, now I need to actually write the fic, that first bit was bugging me though, so had to write this first, did you realize that I always, ALWAYS write the entire chap, THEN come up with all this? Otherwise all my AN's would be this long...because after I write the story I forget everything I wanted to put in here. Shutting up. Writing. Bye.  
  
Just finished. And just a quick shameless plug real quick...I wrote a songfic called 'Bother' that would love some reviews...it currently has very few...*grins* I liked it...Implied slash. Post OotP and post war.  
  
Disclaimer- Not mine. *pouts*  
  
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Sirius smiled as sat in the Lupins' kitchen eating a bowl of ice cream with Remus. The days had slowly been getting warmer, but this year he enjoyed it. This year he wasn't stuck in that stupid claustrophobic house all day long. He could actually get air, breathe, LIVE. It was incredibly refreshing. He hadn't even been here a week and he felt like a completely different person. The only troubles to worry about were homework and the upcoming full moon, but that was nothing in comparison to the torture his mother would have put him through. A summer in the Black household meant constant discussion of Voldemort's rise in power. 'Should we join with him?' was the question that most often went around the dinner table. Sirius had always tried to ignore them, for he knew whatever side Voldemort was on, he would be on the other. Plain and simple. But here, it was a discussion of what flavor ice cream to eat, or when to go out to Muggle London to explore. This was the life Sirius wanted to live all of his. It was so, alive. Perfect.  
  
Sirius looked down at his ice cream. It was melted.  
  
"Lost in thought Padfoot?" Remus asked from the other side of the table where he was licking his spoon. His bowl was empty.  
  
Sirius nodded. "Thinking about how much I love it here. It's so peaceful."  
  
Remus grinned. "I'm glad you like it. I used to hate it here, I was so lonely."  
  
"I know love, but now you've got me. I'll never let you be lonely." Sirius grinned as he stood up and took the bowls to the sink where he began washing them. Remus came over and joined him. Sirius had really become part of the family in the few days he'd been there, down to helping with chores. He grinned and kissed him on the cheek before plunging his hands into the dirty water.  
  
"Say, Padfoot, does James even know you're here?" Remus asked suddenly, looking up from the pot that had been used to cook some soup for lunch in.  
  
Sirius raised an eyebrow and laughed. "I'd completely forgotten about that, I bet he's wondering what happened to me!" Sirius chuckled and grabbed a plate to wash. As he did so an owl flew through the open window. It was James's.  
  
Remus smirked. "How ironic." He walked over and took the letter from its outstretched leg. He opened it and read out loud.  
  
"Hey Moony." Remus laughed. "Obviously doesn't know you're here, or it'd be to you too. Onwards then. How are you? I've been doing fine, but I've got a question. Do you have any bloody idea where the hell Sirius is? I can't seem to get in touch with him..."  
  
Sirius laughed. "Right to the point isn't he?"  
  
"Yep, he always has been if I remember correctly. He asked me outright if it was you I'd fallen for. That's one day I'm never going to forget." Remus grinned. "But from the sounds of it, you're in trouble if you don't tell him where you are right this instant. He said Herma's just been bringing the letters he sends you right back to him."  
  
Sirius laughed again. "Alright, alright. Let me finish this real quick.." He dried off the last plate and put it in the cabinet before returning to the table. "Do you have quill and parchment handy?" Remus nodded and pulled an old quill, some blue ink, and a clean sheet of parchment from a nearby drawer. He set them down in front of Sirius, who had seated himself in one of the kitchen table chairs.  
  
"There you go love." He said before leaning over Sirius's shoulders, his arms dangling around his neck and his face surrounded by sweet smelling black hair.  
  
"Moooony!" Sirius whined. "Do you have any idea how distracting you are?" He squirmed around so he could see Remus. He smiled and kissed him soundly before turning back to the letter. All it said was 'Hi James! I'm alive!'  
  
Remus read the line and laughed. "Well, that's a nice way to put it. Write."  
  
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yes master, writing master."  
  
Remus laughed and bopped Sirius lightly on the side of the head. "You're not a house elf by any stretch of the imagination love."  
  
"…Ouch." Sirius rubbed his head in mock pain before doing as he was told and finishing the letter. He smiled when he was done. "Want to add anything love?" he asked, turning to Remus.  
  
Remus took the letter and read over it before jotting a quick note at the bottom reading 'Maybe we'll come by for lunch sometime. –Moony'. He smiled and rolled the letter before tying it to Herma's leg. "Off you go!" Herma flew off instantly with an amused hoot, almost as if she knew how furious James would be to know he was worrying over nothing.  
  
Sirius pulled Remus into him for another kiss as she left. "Now what shall we do m'love?" He asked after a good five minutes.  
  
"Well, mum and dad will be home soon, so I'd suggest a bit more of this," he promptly gave Sirius another quick kiss, "while we have the chance."  
  
Sirius smiled brightly before lifting Remus off his feet into a happy twirl before setting him back down and closing the gap between their lips yet again. What a summer this was going to be.  
  
~*~  
  
"Shut UP you blasted git!" Sirius yelled. "I don't have time to deal with you."  
  
Snape just smiled and stepped back in front of him. "Really. Now what could it be that you're in such a hurry to do? After all, you're boyfriend's gone and left. I saw him leave earlier with McGonagall. So you've no place to hurry off to." He said slowly, accenting the word 'boyfriend'.  
  
Sirius turned red and glared at his watch. "I don't have a 'boyfriend'." He said, glaring at Snape with a look that could kill. "But I do have a time limit and I need to go, NOW. So MOVE before I have to make you!" He said menacingly, reaching for his wand.  
  
"Oh no, not until you tell me what's so bloody important that you can't even take time for a little conversation." Snape once again stepped in his way.  
  
Sirius was now furious. And late. The sun was almost down, he needed to be long gone by now, he needed to be there for Remus. James and Peter had detention tonight, of all nights. And Remus NEEDED him. And this ********* bloody prat was in his ********* WAY. If it were possible, his usually gray eyes were swiftly becoming red with anger and frustration.  
  
"Move." He hissed.  
  
"No." Snape replied, still smiling.  
  
"YOU WANT TO KNOW? YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT'S SO BLOODY IMPORTANT?" Sirius exploded. He couldn't help it. He had lost control. "Why don't you go down to the Whomping Willow tonight and touch that knot at the base? THEN you'll see what's 'so bloody important'!" He hissed before storming out of the castle.  
  
~*~  
  
"Sirius, Siri, c'mon love, wake up, it's just a dream, wake up."   
  
Sirius started awake. Someone was shaking him. Pretty hard too. He slowly opened his eyes to see Remus's hazel and golden eyes staring back at him. He breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"Hey, you're alright. Just a nightmare, eh?" Remus asked, stroking his forehead.  
  
"Yeah, was I…making a lot of noise?" Sirius asked quietly.  
  
"Not really, but you were thrashing around, and even though this bed isn't small, it's not big enough for me not to notice." Remus responded, smiling. "So what happened?"  
  
"A very bad memory that will probably haunt me the rest of my life." Sirius sighed. They'd had this discussion before. He was still in shock the Remus had actually forgiven him for that incredible transgression of trust.  
  
"Oh. That." Remus said quietly. "You know you're forgiven. No harm was actually done."  
  
"I know love, but it still kills me that I did that to you." Sirius sighed and looked down at the blankets that were now tangled around himself and Remus. "Did I ever tell you he insinuated that we were together that night?"  
  
Remus smirked. "I'm afraid you left out that detail. Maybe he's smarter than we give him credit for."  
  
"Doubtful."  
  
Remus laughed again. "Well, it's almost 3 AM, do you reckon you could go back to sleep? We both could use it."  
  
"With you here, of course." Sirius said, kissing Remus lightly on the forehead before wrapping his arms around his waist and holding him close. It wasn't five minutes before Sirius was sound asleep.  
  
"I love you Siri." Remus whispered before drifting off himself.  
  
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R&R! Please? 


	10. Care of Magical Creatures

AN- Ah, starting to write these first just so I can clear up crap…*grumbles* He's not going to stay with James, he'll 'camp out there' as he said in the book, the only thing slightly different is that he went to Remus's first because it works better with my story. =) And he'll always be 'welcome for Sunday lunch' at the Potter's. There's that, now as to plot, I told ya to be patient, it's coming! Slowly…very very slowly…Will become more apparent when they get back to school. Well, I got my 100th review today! I LOVE YALL! And I adore the plushies, thanks Uozumi.   
  
Okay, these updates are going to become less frequent, I'm going back to school on the 6th of this month, so it'll be about a week or so between chapters if I can manage. Next one'll be up..Ah, I dunno. Soon. But I'll be out of town for a few days, so it'll have to wait till I get back.  
  
On with the show…errr…Story!  
  
Disclaimer- 'Tisn't mine, wish it were.  
  
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Remus, Sirius, Mr. Lupin, and Mrs. Lupin were eating breakfast the next morning when Herma returned. She unceremoniously landed on Sirius's head, as if to show her owner's intense aggravation with him. Sirius rolled his eyes upwards in attempt to see what was on his head when she stuck her leg right in front of his nose, the letter attached to it.  
  
Remus and his parents were already laughing of course, but when Sirius saw this, he doubled over with laughter. Herma swiftly flew to the far safer tabletop. Remus wasn't long to follow in the hysterics when Herma gave an indignant hoot. That owl was just too much like James for her own good.  
  
A few long minutes later, Sirius regained his senses enough to untie the message from the ruffled owl's leg and read it.  
  
"Sirius, you bloody idiot!" He read, grinning. "What in the HELL do you think you're doing, not telling me where you are??" Sirius laughed, imagining how James's voice in his head. "Well, I'm glad you're safe and not dead…"  
  
"Kind of him, isn't it?" Remus remarked. His parents were watching with amusement. Sirius blushed under the attention. He'd never been embarrassed in front of people before, but somehow that changes when it's your boyfriend's parents and they don't know yet.  
  
Sirius shrugged and turned back to the letter. "He is strange like that at times, actually wanting his best friend alive and all…" He smiled brightly and folded the letter before putting it in the pocket of his jeans. Some of the things muggles came up with truly were useful. "He's invited us to visit tomorrow." He told Remus before turning to his parents. "With your permission, of course." Sirius smiled. It was nice to have adults who deserved his respect. He gave it easily when he saw reason. His parents just hadn't ever given him reason. The Lupins had been very kind to him since he arrived, and he was thankful for it. Maybe all parents weren't living nightmares after all.  
  
"I see no problem." Mr. Lupin stated. "The moon won't be full for another week yet."  
  
"We'll see you off in the morning. Ask him how you're to travel. We're connected to the Floo Network, so that would be relatively simple." Mrs. Lupin stated as she stood up and began collecting the now empty breakfast dishes.  
  
"Thanks mum, dad." Remus grinned before grabbing a quill and ink out of the drawer and writing James a quick response. He tied it to Herma's leg and sent her out the window with a small piece of toast.  
  
"Do you need any help with the dishes Mrs. Lupin?" Sirius asked. Remus smiled. It was amazing how much more relaxed Sirius had become since he'd gotten there.  
  
"No thank you, do you two have any homework left? It might be wise to get that out of the way." She responded. Sirius grinned. It was obvious that she and Remus were related.  
  
"Well, I think we do have a bit of Care of Magical Creatures to finish up, or at least I do." Sirius stated.  
  
Remus looked at him slightly confused until he saw the mischievous glint in his eyes. He was pretty sure they'd both finished that assignment yesterday.  
  
"Could you help me Moony? Pleeeeaaase?" Sirius gave him the 'puppy dog eyes' and Remus couldn't resist.   
  
"Okay, okay! Jus stop it with the puppy eyes!" Remus laughed and stood up, Sirius quickly following.  
  
"You KNOW that's why I use them Moony; you can't resist my natural charm."  
  
Remus just laughed before walking towards the stairs. "Well come on then, you big goof."  
  
Sirius bounced out of the kitchen behind him, waving cheerfully at Mr. and Mrs. Lupin as he went through the door.  
  
~*~  
  
"Okay Padfoot, what's this about, you know as well as I do that all of our home…" Remus began but was quickly cut off as Sirius pressed his lips against his mouth, effectively shutting him up.  
  
Sirius wrapped his arms tightly around Remus's waist and held him close as they kissed. Remus had been taken off guard at first, but to Sirius's delight, he happily complied to his overtures. Sirius slowly pulled him away from the door after he butt-bumped it the rest of the way closed. This was heaven if there truly was a heaven. Heaven was here, holding and kissing his Remus. A few minutes later he'd made it to the bed and grinned as he pushed Remus onto it, momentarily breaking the lip-lock.  
  
"What…what happened to Care of Magical creatures?" Remus asked breathlessly.  
  
"That's what I'm doing, taking care of my beloved werewolf." Sirius smiled before he leant back into Remus. "Stop worrying and kiss me."  
  
Remus was all too happy to comply.  
  
~*~  
  
"Good MORNING Jamesy!" Sirius yelled as he stepped out of the fireplace in the Potters' house. He couldn't see anything because his eyes were covered in soot, but he knew James had to be somewhere nearby. Sure enough, as he was brushing off his face he was whacked upside the head. "OUCH! What was that for?"  
  
"Serves you right for yelling in my ear at eight o'clock in the morning you prat." James mumbled. Now that he had the soot out of his eyes, Sirius could see that James was rubbing his ear with mock pain.  
  
Just a moment later Remus shot out of the fire place. He, unlike Sirius, gracefully landed on his feet with hardly any soot on him.  
  
"I don't get it Rem," Sirius stated from the floor where he'd actually landed. "How do you always make it out so gracefully? I always fall on my arse."  
  
"Wolf reflexes." Remus stated with a grin. "And better balance of course."  
  
"Well you don't need to rub it in!"  
  
"Sure I do."  
  
"Will you two stop it?" James stated from the CHAIR that he was sitting in; Sirius was sprawled out on the floor beside him. Remus walked over and gave Sirius a hand up.  
  
"Stop what Jamesy?" Sirius asked once he was on his feet.  
  
"Arguing. So what are we going to do today?" James quickly asked, hoping to change the subject.  
  
"We weren't arguing!" Remus said quickly. "We were debating."  
  
James rolled his eyes. "Real big difference Moony. What're we going to do today?"  
  
Sirius got that mischievious glint in his eyes again. Remus looked at him suspiciously.  
  
"What have you got up your sleeve love?"  
  
"Oh nothing." Sirius said innocently. "Just thinking about a little trip to muggle London…"  
  
"OH no Padfoot, my parents would never go for that and you know it!" James said quickly, hoping to dissuade him before he got on a roll.  
  
"But we have Muggle Studies; wouldn't it be a wonderful idea to get some practical application to everything we've learned? It's a great opportunity!" Sirius exclaimed, waving his arms about wildly.  
  
Just then, Mr. Potter walked in the room. "What's this you're talking about?"  
  
James made a motion at Sirius, trying to get him to stop talking before he started. Sirius ignored him of course.  
  
"You see Mr. Potter, we've been taking Muggle Studies the past few years and we actually all passed our OWLS on them with flying colors. I was wanting to go and see how we'd manage out in the real muggle world, you know, just a day trip into muggle London to see what it's all about."  
  
Remus had to admit, Sirius had a great talent for bullshitting his way out of…or into anything.  
  
Mr. Potter smiled. "That sounds like an interesting idea. I think we may be able to arrange something like that." He turned and walked back out of the room, presumably in search of his wife to discuss plans.  
  
Sirius turned to James and noticed that his eyes were about to pop out of his head in shock. His jaw was hanging open too.  
  
"Come now James, thou art not a codfish." Sirius laughed and closed James's mouth with his index finger. "I suggest you get ready for our outing today."  
  
"You…are absolutely crazy." James said slowly. "Crazy, and strangely brilliant at times."  
  
Sirius beamed. "Why thank you Jamesy! I do believe I've gotten rather good at using school as an excuse, though I think I enjoy Care of Magical Creatures homework the most." Sirius smiled brightly at Remus, who blushed.  
  
"I don't even want to know." James stated, rolling his eyes in exasperation.  
  
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R&R! Next chapter, The marauders (minus one) in muggle London! 


	11. Muggle London

AN- Look! I'm alive! IT'S AN UPDATE!! And this AN is very short because I'm now going to BED. I hope yall enjoy, I'll work on some more soon, promise! I have it planned, it's just the issue of typing it all!  
  
Disclaimer- Not mine. No sue, I need the money.  
  
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"Now that we're here, where do we go?" James asked, staring around him in confusion. There were cars flying up and down the streets, and quite frankly, they were making him nervous.  
  
Sirius looked around, beaming happily. He'd always wanted to do this, but now he didn't know what to do first.  
  
"Why not that store?" Remus asked, pointing at a small store that seemed to be covered in music notes. "I've always wondered what muggle music sounds like. It's got to be better than the junk they play on the Wizard's Wireless…"  
  
"Great idea Moony!" Sirius grabbed Remus's hand and started running towards the store. He would have run straight into a moving car if Remus hadn't stopped him.  
  
"Whoa love," Remus laughed, "not so fast!"  
  
"Fine, fine." Sirius grumbled as he stood, impatiently watching the traffic. James walked up moments later as he had been casually walked while Sirius bolted and Remus was drug.  
  
Sirius was watching the traffic intently, waiting for an opening. Consequently, he noticed it long before Remus and James. Remus turned to him in confusing when he felt the jabbing pain in his upper arm where Sirius was poking him.  
  
"Sirius! OW! What IS it?" he asked in annoyance, rubbing the now sore spot on his arm.  
  
Sirius was still staring at the road, his eyes as wide as saucers. Remus followed his gaze until his eyes came to rest on the object of Sirius's fascination.  
  
It was a motorcycle.  
  
"I want one Moony." Sirius stated, still staring at it.  
  
"Start saving your Knuts then." Remus smirked. Everything with Sirius tended to be 'love at first sight'. This, of course, was no different. "C'mon love, we can cross now."  
  
Sirius nodded and allowed himself to be led across the street, his eyes never leaving the bike.  
  
James grinned when they finally reached the other side. "I think you've been replaced Rem, he's staring more at that…whatsit…than at you!"  
  
Sirius spluttered indignantly, currently being incapable of coherent speech.  
  
"It's called a motorcycle Prongs." Remus said, obviously ignoring the rest of James's remark. "If you'd paid more attention last year when we were studying muggle travel instead of staring at Lily…"  
  
"Stuff it Wolf Boy." James muttered. Remus simply laughed.  
  
"Moony, you KNOW that nothing will EVER replace you!" Sirius exclaimed, finally having regained the use of his vocal chords and the composure to form coherent sentences. "But he's got a point Prongs." Sirius smirked with the drastic change in topic before turning to Remus in confusion. "Where was I that day? I'm sure I would have remembered something like THAT…"  
  
"I know Siri, James was just being a prat." Remus stated, giving Sirius's hand a light squeeze. "And you were sleeping."  
  
"Dreaming about Moony!" James crowed.  
  
Remus just rolled his eyes and stopped walking. "We're here."  
  
Sirius stopped glaring at James and smiled brightly before running through the door, dragging Remus behind him. Again.  
  
"SIRIUS!" Remus shouted, once again forcing him to halt. "Calm. Down. I don't want to kiss the ground today."  
  
Sirius grinned sheepishly and ducked his head. "Sorry Moony."  
  
James was laughing again. Sirius hadn't made it two steps before Remus had stopped him. In fact, he still hadn't made it through the door. "Never thought I'd seen the day someone could control you Padfoot!"  
  
"Cork it. S'not like Lily Evans doesn't have you wrapped around her little finger, whether she wants to or not hardly matters." Sirius replied with a smirk as James turned a lovely shade of pink. He wrapped his arm around a laughing Remus's waist. "Now are we going it…Calmly. Or not?"  
  
Remus smiled and tugged lightly at Sirius's hand. "C'mon." Sirius bounced happily along behind him and through the door at last.  
  
~*~  
  
The moment they walked into the store, they were assaulted by music so loud that Remus nearly jumped in fright.  
  
---  
  
You say you want a revolution, well you know,  
  
We all want to change the world…  
  
---  
  
Sirius looked like a kid who'd just been given a lifetime supply of Chocolate Frogs. The music was upbeat, loud, and he absolutely loved it.  
  
James looked around in awe at all the records in the room before his eyes landed on the muggle who was watching them from behind the counter. He 'gently' prodded Sirius and nodded his head in the direction of the aforementioned muggle.  
  
Sirius quickly came back to reality as he saw the muggle. He looked like a teenager, maybe a few years older than them. The strange thing was that he was STARING. As he looked around, Sirius noticed that he wasn't the only one staring either. There were about seven other teenaged muggles staring as well.  
  
"Err, James?" Sirius asked, watching the muggles warily.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"We've managed to become the center of attention without trying." Sirius remarked, looking nervously around the room. At Hogwarts they had always sought to attract attention, but then he always knew WHY they were in the limelight. This attention was not only unwanted, but unsettling as well.  
  
"That we do." James said calmly. "So what are we doing here again?"  
  
"Checking out muggle music." Remus replied. If the attention was unsettling for Sirius, it was downright nerve-racking for Remus. Sirius apparently noticed this and pulled him closer, if possible.  
  
James smirked. "You know, it's not be they're staring at."  
  
Sirius gave him a blank stare.  
  
"They're staring at you two." James said in way of explanation. Remus caught the idea and blushed. Sirius still looked clueless. "Geeze Sirius! You are so naïve at times!" James threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "You two. Together…"  
  
"Oh." Sirius blushed even darker than Remus. "Do people really have a problem with us?" He looked genuinely confused.  
  
James smirked and nodded. "Naïve."  
  
Sirius glared at him, but didn't let go of Remus. "Well, lets find out about this music, shall we?"  
  
Remus quickly nodded and walked with Sirius to the counter. Most of the people were slowly going back to the business and ignoring them.  
  
"Hello." Sirius said politely to the muggle behind the counter. Now that they were closer, the nametag on his shirt was visible. It claimed his name was 'Ralph'.  
  
"Can I help you?" 'Ralph' didn't look quite as shell shocked anymore, he didn't look like he was eager to help them, but that could just be because he was working.  
  
"We were interested in some music." Sirius stated happily, not noticing that this was quite obvious.  
  
"Obviously." 'Ralph' replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.  
  
Sirius wasn't fazed. "What would you suggest?"  
  
'Ralph' stared at him in shock. "Where do you come from that you don't know anything about music?"  
  
"A rotten family that suppressed any knowledge of happiness." Sirius replied with a smirk.  
  
"Parents that were scared of me." Remus added.  
  
"An extremely over protective mother who thinks Mozart is the best thing since…something…" James stopped himself before he said something wizard related.  
  
'Ralph's' eyebrows lifted slightly. He hadn't expected three different stories.  
  
"Wow, well, we don't have many people come in here with that sort of …problem. Would it be too nosey to ask how you got here now?" 'Ralph' was warming up to the trio, interesting conversation was often hard to come by. Especially in this part of town, everyone really kept to themselves.  
  
"I ran away, went to Remus's house," Sirius nodded his head at Remus, "we went to visit James," another nod in James's direction, "and evidently I'm rather good at talking his dad into things."  
  
'Ralph' smiled. Definitely interesting customers. "So you're Remus and James, that leaves you." He looked to Remus, then James, then back to Sirius.  
  
"Sorry. Sirius, Sirius Black. And that's the S-I-R-I-U-S sort of Sirius." Sirius smiled and shook 'Ralph's' hand.  
  
"I'm Ralph."  
  
"We could tell." Sirius gestured towards the nametag. Ralph looked down and laughed. "So what sort of music would you suggest?" Sirius asked, returning to the original topic of conversation.  
  
Ralph grinned. "Well, this stuff playing belongs to my Boss, it's okay, but about ten years old. The Beatles if you're interested."  
  
"Sounds great." Remus said quickly. "Where's it at?"  
  
~*~  
  
The three of them left the store twenty minutes later with lighter pockets and bags laden with records.  
  
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Please R&R! Love yall! Thanks for being patient with me! 


	12. Tragedy

AN- This one is SAD. Very sad. Had to be done I tell you…it'll get happier soon, promise! I'll return to my previous fluff very soon!  
  
Disclaimer- Not mine. No sue.  
  
Sirius and Remus were laughing happily, keep a tight hold of their new 'toys' as they flooed back to the Lupin household, but all that merriment soon was slaughtered.   
  
Remus looked around in horror at the destroyed living room. Books were everywhere, the tables were overturned, and every bit of glass in the room had been shattered. Nothing was left in tact; it was as though they had walked into a disaster zone.  
  
"Great Merlin…" Sirius said softly as he stepped out of the fireplace behind Remus. Remus turned to him, Sirius was almost frightened by the utter look of terror in his eyes. The normal hazel color had faded into amber only last week, but now that too had vanished to be replaced by the black of his pupils. Sirius felt his knees begin to quiver as he noticed the utter silence of the house. Nothing was moving, nothing at all. He slowly looked around the room again, wincing to see the place so destroyed, before turning back to Remus. "Where are..?" He began before it hit him, with this sort of destruction, there couldn't possibly be hope.  
  
Remus seemed to come to the same conclusion, for at that moment he lost all the control Sirius knew he had always fought for, he had become the insecure, scared young boy who had once thrown his life to fate to save his best friend, the brave façade had been stripped away to leave just Remus. Sirius felt his heart break as a lone tear made its path down the side of his face. Remus quickly brushed the tear aside, but others soon followed. Sirius slowly stepped forward to pull him into his arms as tears began to fall from his own eyes.  
  
"We need to find them." He said softly into Remus's ear. Remus just shook his head on Sirius's shoulder, his whole body wracking with sobs. "Then I'll find them." He said gently, brushing a stray lock of Remus's hair back behind his ear. "I love you. Go back to James's. Wait for me there." Remus nodded and Sirius gently guided him to the fireplace and sent him on his way before turning back to the room. He was almost afraid to see what the other rooms looked like; this was only the first room they would come into. He still had to find Mr. And Mrs. Lupin, or what was left. Sirius had to choke back his own tears and find the strength to do this. He had to do this. Remus needed him to do this. And he knew it was all his fault.  
  
~*~  
  
"Remus, REMUS!" James yelled as Remus practically fell through the fireplace. "Remus, what happened? What's the matter?" James had managed to jump up from the chair he had been sitting in, listening to one of the records when Remus had fallen through. He'd jumped up and barely managed to catch him before he hit the thud. Now that he was supporting all his weight, James could feel the heavy sobs that Remus was crying.  
  
Remus could hardly find the breath to choke out the words he needed to say. James just led him to the chair and helped him sit down before getting a box of tissues and another chair.  
  
"Mum…da…Death Eaters…gone…" Remus barely managed to choke out. Only as he said it did he realize it had been those vile dark wizards who had killed his parents. James's face turned from its normal tan color to a shade to deathly white.  
  
"Dear Merlin…" He whispered softly. "Where's Sirius?"  
  
"Looking for them. My mum and da.." Remus said between sobs. James pulled him into a tight hug before standing up again and walking for the door.   
  
"Wait here. I'll be back." Remus just nodded and grabbed a tissue.  
  
Moments later Mrs. Potter entered the room, swiftly walking over to Remus and pulling him to his feet before wrapping her arms around him in a motherly hug. James and his father entered the room a few moments later and quickly joined the hug. The four of them just stood there, holding Remus. They stayed like that for nearly an hour, until Sirius came through the fireplace.  
  
Sirius's face seemed to have aged years in the mere hour he had spent at the Lupins'. There were things he'd seen there he never wanted to think of again, yet he knew the images would haunt him the rest of his life. He closed his eyes, as if to will the images in his mind to go away, but they wouldn't. The image of Mr. Lupin's broken body laying in Remus's room, his blood poured all over the floor and walls, sloppily used to leave a message that would float eternally through his mind. 'You cannot escape your heritage..' Sirius was certain the message was meant for him, knew it had been the work of the Death Eaters who had already begun to infiltrate his family with their wicked words and ideas. He took a deep breath.  
  
"The ministry is sending someone to…prepare them." He said softly. He hadn't cried. He didn't want to cry, but…they had been more of parents to him than his own. They had cared, and the reality that they were gone still hadn't hit him. He couldn't bear to look at Remus. Instead, he just looked at the floor. "I'm so sorry Moony."  
  
Remus's sobbing had slowly subsided; he now stepped away from the Potter family and towards Sirius. He gently wiped away the tear that had been forming in his eye, lifting his head as he did so. Sirius swiftly gathered the werewolf in his arms and held on for dear life.  
  
"I'm so sorry Moony, so sorry."  
  
And they both just cried till they could cry no more.  
  
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Gonna kill me now? I hope not, it had to be done! For the sake of my plot! R&R! 


	13. Sweet Dreams

AN: Last chapter had to be done for the sake of canon. That and plot progression, wich will continue next chapter! Lol. This is…short interlude and slightly flufful/happyful chapter! Enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: Not mine.  
  
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Remus sighed. School started within the next two weeks. He and Sirius had spent the remainder of the summer at James's house; the Potters had kindly told them they were always welcome. They shared a room with James; it was large enough to hold three beds, unlike Remus's old room.  
  
The ministry had held a simple funeral for Mr. And Mrs. Lupin, they hadn't enough money to hold a large one, but it had been nice. If a funeral could be described as such. Remus slowly opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He didn't want to get up. He was tired of facing the world, everything seemed wrong now. The most terrible thing was the look in Sirius's eyes. Without asking, Remus knew he saw things that night he would never share, knew he was haunted. It was obvious; the bags beneath his eyes grew heavier every day, almost as though he was afraid of what he would see should he fall asleep. Remus often wondered if he'd slept at all in the past two weeks.  
  
The full moon had been horrible, it was as though the wolf knew something was terribly wrong, especially with Padfoot. He wouldn't leap and play as they had always done. It had been a relief when Mrs. Potter had pulled him aside and stated that 'they knew about his condition, they understood, and arrangements had already been made.' Yet still, life had not been easy. Remus slowly lifted his head to look at the clock on the other side of the room only to note that it was about 3 AM before flopping his head back down on the pillow. It was no use. He wasn't going to get any sleep, not tonight at least. He quickly flipped the covers back and padded silently across the room to Sirius's bed.  
  
~*~  
  
Sirius quickly shut his eyes as he heard Remus get up, pretending to be asleep. He didn't want Remus to worry about him. He hadn't been sleeping, but he didn't want the attention he knew it would cause if he said something. As it was Remus had enough to worry about. Evidently he wasn't good at pretending.  
  
"I know you're not sleeping love." Remus murmured quietly. It took Sirius slightly by surprise to hear him so close. He'd forgotten how quietly Remus could move. He slowly cracked his eye open to see Remus sitting on the edge of his bed.  
  
"True. But neither are you." He stated simply.  
  
"Couldn't. Mind if I join you? I...err...maybe we'll both get some much needed rest this way. I know you need it." Remus said gently, running his hand over the bag beneath Sirius's eyes. "I won't ask what it is that haunts you so, but I know something keeps you awake these nights."  
  
Sirius shifted over in the bed. "It's worth a try." Remus curled up beside him, cradled in his arms. This was how it was supposed to be. This felt so…right. Sirius sighed and pulled him closer, kissing the back of his head before finally drifting off to sleep.  
  
~*~  
  
Sirius opened his eyes the next morning, well rested for the first time in…he didn't know how long. But when he did so, it was to come face-to-face with none other than James.  
  
"Good morning lovebirds." James stated smiling. "I'm glad to see the two of you actually SLEPT for once. But if this is what it takes to get you to sleep, we might have to make some…adjustments."  
  
Sirius blinked. It was too early in the morning for this detailed of a conversation. If he hadn't slept, it would be another story. But as it was, he was still half asleep. As was Remus. In fact, Remus was still entirely asleep. So he opted to ignore James and return to his sleeping.  
  
James laughed as Sirius's eyes closed again. "Well, that's fine by me, but you're going to be the one to explain this to my mum and da!" He stated before walking out the door, presumably on his way to breakfast.  
  
Sirius mildly wondered what he'd be explaining before he drifted entirely back to sleep.  
  
~*~  
  
-The next day…-  
  
"Sirius…Siri, wake up love." Remus gently shook Sirius back into the land of the living. "Do you realize it's past noon? We need to get up. I'm really hungry.."  
  
Sirius just mumbled and rolled over, burying his face in Remus's shoulder.  
  
"You know, you two've been sleeping for like, thirty hours or so, it doesn't surprise me you're hungry." James remarked from across the room where he was sitting with his DADA book open on the bed. "Mum was starting to get worried about you two not coming down, she finally had to come up and see that you were sleeping peacefully. Made her much happier, but one of you is going to have to explain why you're sleeping peacefully in the same bed…"  
  
About halfway through his speech, Sirius finally sat up and began to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He was fully alert by the time James got to the part about the same bed.  
  
"WHAT?" He shouted, nearly leaping out of the bed. "Oh dear, that's going to be an interesting conversation."  
  
"Calm down Sirius, it'll be okay." Remus said gently, getting out of the bed himself. "It's worth it to have a decent night's sleep."  
  
"More than a night Moony." James chirped again.  
  
"Fine, fine. Have it your way." Remus said, rolling his eyes. "Now how about some food?"  
  
He was soon answered by a growl from Sirius's stomach.  
  
"I'll take that as a yes, c'mon Padfoot." Sirius was all too happy to follow Remus down the steps to the kitchen.  
  
"Good afternoon Remus, Sirius!" Mrs. Potter called cheerfully as they walked into the kitchen. "I've got some food ready, if you're hungry. Which I'm sure you must be. It's been over a day since either of you've eaten anything. I'm so glad you've both gotten some sleep; you were in desperate need of it. Much longer and those bags would be dragging the ground…" Mrs. Potter rambled along amiably as she fixed two plates of eggs, sausage, toast, and bacon.  
  
"Yes, about that," James interjected, "Sirius is supposed to explain that, though I doubt he remembers promising to do so"  
  
"Explain? Say...what's this all about?" Sirius asked, suddenly looking up from his food.  
  
"Explaining why you two were in the same bed." James stated simply.   
  
"Oh, err…" Sirius stumbled and turned beet red before looking up at Remus for support. Who was of course, no help, being just as beet red as Sirius, perhaps more so. "Right. That would be because, ah…"  
  
"That's okay dear, I believe I understand." Mrs. Potter said kindly. "It wouldn't be an easy thing to put into words."  
  
Sirius nodded and stared adamantly at his eggs. "I love him." He whispered quietly. Remus looked up at him and smiled, blushing slightly.  
  
"That's understandable, you're both simply lovely young men, I'm so happy James has such wonderful friends. Just behave yourselves, alright?"  
  
"Oh yes ma'am!" Sirius said quickly. "We understand that entirely." Remus nodded assent.  
  
"We promise…but…is there anymore food?" Remus asked, looking hopefully between his empty plate and Mrs. Potter, who quickly walked over with another plate of food.  
  
"Help yourself. You're too skinny as it is!"  
  
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Hope you liked it? Review! Pretty please? Just so's ya know- most of my free time does go to this story…Love yall! 


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